Towards Real Time Multi-robot Routing using Quantum Computing Technologies

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the potential for current quantum computing technologies to provide good solutions to the NP-hard problem of routing multiple robots on a grid in real time. A hybrid quantum-classical approach has been presented in detail. Classical computation is used to generate candidate paths, while quantum annealing is used to select the optimal combination of paths. This second process is generally the most time consuming when performed clasically. The performance is benchmarked classically and on a D-Wave 2000Q with up to 200 robots and has shown that producing valid solutions for the problem of multi-robot routing is achievable with the current quantum annealing technology. The current limitations of using quantum annealing are also discussed.